Charlie Rose acted as an apologist for President Obama on Wednesday's CBS This Morning,
after former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asserted that the
second-term executive was avoiding responsibility for the recent spate
of scandals surrounding his administration.

Rumsfeld snarked that "the only thing the President has really taken responsibility for is SEAL Team Six killing Osama bin Laden." Rose interrupted his guest and replied, "Oh, that's not true." [audio clips available here; video below]

The veteran journalist raised the scandals in a very general manner,
and didn't specifically mention the IRS's targeting of right-leaning
groups, the Justice Department's investigation in the Associated Press'
phone records, or the ongoing political face-off over the September 11,
2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. facility in Benghazi. Rose also
inserted a rebuke of conservatives' criticism of the mainstream media's
liberal bias into his question:

CHARLIE ROSE: Washington today – you've been in Washington many, many, many years. What
does it feel like to you, because the President is getting a lot of
criticism, which, sort of, debunks the notion, that somehow, the press
doesn't criticize Democrats. But the atmosphere – what does it feel?

DONALD RUMSFELD, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: It – they're in crisis mode. There's no question about that,
and – and they're still in a mode – if you're a navy pilot and you're
lost, the first thing – you know, is, you climb; get some altitude; take
a deep breath – conserve – and then confess. And they aren't doing-

ROSE: Confess?

RUMSFELD: Climb, conserve, and confess, and they aren't doing it yet.
They're still trying to lay off blame. The only thing the President has
really taken responsibility for is SEAL Team Six killing Osama bin
Laden-

ROSE: Oh, that's not true-

RUMSFELD: Oh, pretty close – pretty close, Charlie.

The CBS anchor has a record of hardball interviews of
conservative/Republican guests. Back in February 2012, Rose and
co-anchor Norah O'Donnell hounded House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers on the issue of the budget sequester.

— Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.